Finding her voice
Nicholasville singer pursues dream later in life
By Don Edwards
HERALD-LEADER CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST
Posted on Sun, Sep. 26, 2004
It's another morning in the world, and chances are that country music radio stations in the United Kingdom, the rest of Europe, Australia and New Zealand are playing songs sung by Lolene Cheeks from Nicholasville, whose slogan is "country music with an attitude."
In 2002, Lolene (she uses only her first name as a performer) was No. 6 for the first two weeks of July on the European Worldwide Mainstream Major and Indie Chart of the most-played performers that year. For the entire year of 2002, she was No.10.
But that chart reflects what's going on on the other side of the ocean, where her husband, Richard Cheeks, 55, a lawyer, civil engineer and his wife's manager, has promoted her 2002 album called Lonely Dealin's. He stays in touch with more than 200 deejays on the Internet and is trying to line up more live performances for Lolene. Her second album, called Everything You Are, just came out. It's available at Joseph-Beth Booksellers.
But because of a catch-22 situation, you almost can't hear a Lolene song in Kentucky.
"That's the curse of being an independent," Cheeks said. "You can't get on the big, corporate-owned radio playlist unless you've got a contract with a major record company. And you can't get a contract unless you've been played. And of course, there's a lot of money involved for so-called 'licensing fees' and 'market-study fees' and well, you wouldn't believe the red tape involved."
He added: "Lolene's songs are on a few small stations in Kentucky: Cynthiana, Danville, Harrodsburg, Flemingsburg, Stanton, Whitesburg, Mayfield; places like those. And sometimes people will tell her: 'Hey, I heard your music on a station in Las Vegas' or wherever.
"She's performed in Nashville and Branson (Mo.), but one of the things that stops us with a major recording contract is the age thing. When the majors look for new talent, they want kids. You know, young people."
And Lolene, though she doesn't look it, is 48.
"I just want to make enough money to go on with my career," Lolene said. "And that's writing and singing songs."
In fact, she began as a songwriter. The producer of her songs liked her voice and suggested she sing them herself with some Nashville studio musicians backing her up.
She was born Lolene Soward in Maysville and has been singing songs and playing guitar since age 7. She wrote more than half of the 12 songs on her first album, an ability she thinks she inherited from her father, William Soward. He was a lawyer who had, when younger, tried to succeed as a Hollywood writer. He wrote jokes for George Burns, and he wrote a novel, The Damned Don't Cry, which was made into a movie of the same name starring Joan Crawford.
She was one of those kids who win 4-H talent shows and sing on Lexington television. Music was fun but for most of her adult career, Lolene was a computer operator. "I was in New York nearly a year," she said, "but I kept being drawn back to Kentucky." She and Cheeks have been married 14 years. Only in the past few years has she been serious about a career in music.
I think that's what I liked about her. I like people who don't give up on a dream and aren't afraid to jump-start a new one, no matter at what age in life. "I'm singing better than I ever have," she said. "I'm happy."
The rest of this will sound like a fan's notes, but music is difficult to write about. You have to hear it. I'm 64. My idea of a female country vocalist is a mix of Loretta Lynn and Patty Loveless with a big dollop of Patsy Cline thrown in. In other words, a good-ol'-girl country voice so authentic that it sounds like 26 miles of bad road and heartbreak.
I listened to Lolene's album, and she didn't disappoint me. Her smoky voice is terrific on country-rock and country-blues songs. She sounded as good as anything on the radio, and one song she wrote, called The Deal's Gone Down, I liked as well as any country song I've heard. If you want to know more about her music, she has a Web site: http://Lolene.net.
I've learned not to bet on anything, especially fame. True story: The first time Loretta Lynn played Lexington, she played the stockyards. When she played here the second time, she played Rupp Arena.
I have no idea how far Lolene Cheeks will or won't go. but she's worth watching. And hearing.
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Don Edwards is a retired Herald-Leader columnist who wrote a column from 1979 to 2001. Reach him at (859) 266-4221 or at donaldcedw@aol.com
